After announcing the concept of e-Rupee and its pilot for wholesale secondary markets, the RBI has announced the beginning of the pilot phase for retail use of India’s CBDC, the e-Rupee (e₹-R).

To study the digital rupee in a retail setting, a closed user group has been formed with merchants and customers. The CBDC is a digital token and will be a legal tender when launched formally in the country.

What will be the denominations of India’s CBDC, e-Rupee?

The e-rupee will be issued in the same denominations as paper rupee notes and coins. So there will be an e-rupee for fifty paisa, and one, five, ten, twenty rupees, and the larger amounts of hundred, five hundred and two thousand e-rupees.

How can one get or buy e-rupee or CBDC?

The e-rupee or digital rupee will be available via banks. A digital wallet will be made available by banks to store the digital rupee. The wallet can be downloaded on a mobile phone or other devices. One it is legal tender, the e rupee can be used just like ordinary rupees, and sent to other people and merchants or recipients. QR codes will also be available to easily scan and send e rupee.

How safe will be the e-rupee?

The RBI’s pilot study is expected to test safety and security aspect of the e-rupee. As per RBI’s note, the robustness of the entire transaction will be on test as well as different features and applications of the e-rupee. The CBDC can also be used to make deposits. But when kept in wallets, it will not earn interest.

What will be the value of e-rupee? Will it be volatile like Bitcoin?

One e-rupee will equal one ordinary rupee, as it is a stable currency.

Will there be more pilots? Is e-rupee about to be launched?

As per the RBI note, “different features and applications of the e₹-R token and architecture will be tested in future pilots, based on the learnings from this pilot.”

The current retail e-rupee pilot will be tested by a group of four banks to begin with. These are: State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank (in four cities). New banks to join later will be: Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Which cities will the digital or e rupee be tested in?

Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar. More cities to join later will be: Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla.

As per RBI, “the scope of pilot may be expanded gradually to include more banks, users and locations as needed.”

Also read:

Announcement of e-Rupee concept: https://www.blockmagic.in/india/cryptocurrency-in-india/indian-digital-rupee-cbdc/indias-bitcoin-killer-rbis-cbdc-is-e-rupee-announces-concept-note-for-pilot/

Pilot for wholesale segment: https://www.blockmagic.in/india/cryptocurrency-in-india/indian-digital-rupee-cbdc/rbi-begins-first-pilot-for-cbdc-e-rupee-in-wholesale-segment/

Read more about RBI and CBDC: https://www.blockmagic.in/?s=rbi+cbdc

Sources:

https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=54773